I planted some heirloom tomato seeds recently. I had no idea what “heirloom” meant when I was given the seed. Google informed me that they are seeds from plants that existed before the Second World War and are not hybrid seeds. That means that the seeds will give you a plant which is identical to the mother plant. That’s my interpretation. In days gone by, since ancient times, that’s how plants were grown. The farmer would plant a crop and then save the seeds until the next season and plant those seeds. Science and technology intervened and made all kinds of modifications to plants by crossing varieties and by genetically modifying fruits and vegetables.

One of my heirloom tomato plants

Take potatoes for instance. You plant potatoes by cutting off the “eyes” and planting them into the soil. Stems and leaves grow from these cuttings and produce a new crop of potatoes. The problem is that if you use cuttings from modified potatoes you get wonderful foliage but no potatoes under the soil. Seeds from certain hybrids also don’t germinate. It can be a very frustrating and disappointing exercise. The reason that plants are interfered with is that by crossing varieties there is a higher yield and also stronger and disease resistant plants. This is very good for the farmer who grows for the market and is reliant on his crops for an income. This is very good and can potentially solve the world hunger crisis. There are less and less people who grow their own crops. Its much easier to simply go to the store and buy fresh vegetables. No need to till the soil and water and fertilize and pull up weeds.

My apple tree planted from a seed

Its becoming more and more expensive to buy seeds. What has become of the tradition of neighbours exchanging seeds and cuttings and every household having their own garden and growing their own vegetables? Have we become so comfortable in our daily routines that we don’t want to be bothered with ancient traditions? Even the smallest flat (apartment) has space for a window box with a few vegetables. See this website for ideas for small areas. Square Foot Gardening in South Africa

Jeremiah 6:16 – This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said,’We will not walk in it’.

A brand new patty pan squash plant

Is that what the problem is with the world at this time? Aren’t people willing to follow the ancient paths? Do they just want to follow their own minds and their own hearts? We should be willing to learn from the ancient ways in order to survive the modern ways. We will be much less stressed and there will be less depression and suicide. Slow down and stand at the crossroads and look …

I think Spring has eventually arrived. About a month late, but I suppose she has the right, just like a bride who chooses to be late for her wedding. The guests grow increasingly uncomfortable but when she enters the church in all her splendour and her groom gets tears in his eyes all the tension melts away.

Yesterday I saw that our one and only peach tree has a single blossom. Actually its very first blossom. It grew on the spot where I had a hole for peels. It was supposed to have been a compost heap, but somehow the composted material never made its way out of the hole. The peach pip obviously was thrown out with the peels (I keep a bucket in the kitchen for any fruit and vegetable waste). The only things I don’t put in it are onions and citrus because the earthworms don’t like them. All other uncooked vegetable waste goes into it. The peach pip grew and now has a very fertile pack of earth to feed off.

My single peach blossom heralding Spring’s arrival.

There are other flowers appearing as well as new foliage. What a wonderful season. I absolutely adore Spring. Its the most exciting time of the year. Everywhere I look there’s new life. New beginnings, new hope. I think God created Spring so that people could also feel renewed and refreshed after winter. We need that feeling every so often. Sometimes we go through winter in our souls, a cold, dark, unfertile period where we don’t see much light. Coming out of it is like Spring arriving. We see new growth and we have hope for the future. Spring always arrives, even if she’s a bit later than we think she ought to be. Sometimes she arrives with such glory that we burst out into blossom and at other times there’s only one little flower to prove that there’s new life.

All the evidence of Spring is overwhelming and my heart is full of wonder. Wonder at the miracle of new life, wonder at how God’s creation works and wonder at how there’s something that’s so big and so powerful can be so delicate and so beautiful. God has put into our hearts the sense of wonder, and as children exploring creation we embrace it, but unfortunately it seems that some people lose it. Life becomes too demanding and too hard, and maybe they don’t have a garden to play in, and they just become oblivious to the wonder. Its very sad and I think even though God put that wonder into our hearts, its up to us to nurture it and keep it alive.

Flax flower (linseed)

Look at the flaxseed or linseed flower. There’s a little blue flower right at the top of the plant which has a single long straight stem. It bends in the wind and stands straight and tall to bear its flowers and produce seeds. By the way, did you know that flaxseed can be planted by just putting the seeds that you buy to eat into the soil. I was so amazed when I tried and they actually grew!!

Let us not lose our sense of wonder, let us step out of winter and make the decision to live in Spring.

Yesterday I received a broadcast mesage warning me against HIV infected blood that has been injected into bananas. The people who supposedly injected this infected blood into the bananas are out to kill millions of people. The report goes says that “if your fruit has a red weird colour in it” you must know that it has been infected by HIV blood. Its concludes by making the statement “That is satanism.” I totally agree that it is satanism. Wait! Hear me out, don’t stop reading, I’m going to make a point.

How many of these messages have you received? How many prayer requests have you received on behalf of missionaries who are about to be beheaded by extremist Buddhists in India? Seriously? I’ve always thought that Buddhists were peaceful people. And what about the messages about the poor little girl/boy who has cancer and will receive 1 dollar for every time the message is shared? I normally go to the internet and rsearch these messages and 99% of hem are recorded as being hoaxes. What is the purpose of these messages? I would say mainly to spread fear. When I think that I could be eating infected fruit I’m going to be fearful of buying fruit that could harm me or my family. Maybe I shouldn’t buy fruit from street vendors or maybe I should stop eating fruit altogether. What if they also do it to other fruit and not just bananas? What if I’ve already inadvertently eaten fruit which is contaminated? People have all these fearful ideas racing through their heads, and fear paralyzes. Now they can’t do their work properly and their reltionships are eventually affected because of the fear.

Just consider this; Fear is very seldom the spine chilling, nail biting thing that you see in horror movies. Everyday “innocent” fear is way more subtle than that. Fear is that little niggling thought or seed that has been planted in the back of your mind that keeps eating away at you. Let me bare my soul and tell you a story that will illustrate what I mean.

In 1970 I was in second grade at school. In those days in South Africa it was called Sub B. I was a very good reader. My mom had made sure of that and she spent long hours making sure we knew how to read. Its a wonderful legacy as I still love reading. I was in Mrs le Roux’s class. We had a dual medium school and I was in the English class. There were 4 grades in our class – Sub A to Standard 2 – with about 20 children in the whole class. I think there were 7 children in our grade. We were standing around Mrs le Roux’s table with our reading books and taking turns to read a piece. I was probably bored because I used to red through the whole reading book on the day I received it. Suddenly she shouted, “Alex, look in your book! Stop looking at your big, fat, tummy!” From that day I concentrated on pulling in my tummy so that nobody would know that I had a “big, fat, tummy”. For the next 40 years the words that she said on that day eat away at my self esteem and eroded my confidence. I had long forgotten the incident but the consequences were still there. I often felt that I wasn’t good enough but I couldn’t understand why I felt that way.

One morning at about 3 o’clock, I woke up and went to my sitting room. I sat on the sofa and wrapped in a blanket cried out to God and asked Him what the matter was. Why did I feel this way? There was no logical reason. I was educated and capable yet I was feeling like I lacked something. The Holy Spirit gently guided me back to that classroom where I had been standing 40 years before and replayed everything that had happened. At once I understood that I had accepted the words that had been spoken. I had accepted that I had a big, fat, tummy – even though it had been a lie. As I sat on that sofa with tears streaming down my face, Jesus assured me that I was worthy because He had made me. I felt warm and loved and good enough. It was something I will never forget and it was real and so very personal. I have forgiven Mrs le Roux, she was just doing the best she could in that sitution. Nobody is perfect.

This weed is dying after being treated with a mixture of vinegar and salt. Thats what should happen to the fearful ideas before they can take root in our minds.

Do you see how a small grain of fear, even if it isn’t meant seriously or maliciously can damage someone? That is why I say that these messages are satanism. The devil wants you to be fearful and have all kinds of hang-ups that are going to keep you from being a whole person. 2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Let us use our sound minds to spread love, and let us use the power God has given us to touch thos around us in a positive way and not use words that will hurt.

This apple seed has become a little apple tree – good seeds like good thoughts should be allowed to thrive

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